Sony VAIO Duo 11 slider PC hands-on (video)

While Sony's keeping quiet on a lot of the precise technical specs, there's plenty to talk about in the form-factor Sony has chosen for one of its debut Windows 8 VAIO devices. The Duo 11 slider pairs an 11.6-inch screen with a sliding -- and very satisfying -- hinge. This gives the slate two different ways to deal with Microsoft's forthcoming OS. Handily, Sony has also developed a precise digitizer to work in tandem with the device. We're liking the style of the slider, and that petite footprint is also rather appealing -- aside from the paucity for keys. There are more impressions and a hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-163684%

The keyboard was a little cramped, but the chiclet keys were responsive enough. This early model was tagged in Windows 8 regalia, with that new logo lingering below the 11.6-inch, 1080p screen. The Sony stylus is also an interesting new addition. It was responsive to our chicken-scrawl, navigating us to Internet Explorer as we wanted. Another neat feature was how the stylus aided photo-editing with the ability to quickly crop faces of friends and then easily reassemble them on new pictures. There's also some visible integration within Microsoft's Office suite, but we'll have to re-visit those functions on the final model to really delve into how useful it could be for business users. Fortunately, it shouldn't take long -- we expect the device will arrive this October.